The European Pet Food Federation has held an inaugural meeting of its CEO Forum to talk about future-proofing the industry.
The forum included 16 business leaders from 11 European countries and the session focused on long-term mega trends, such as sustainability, globalisation and digitalisation, and how these could impact the pet food industry.
Andreas Steinle, from the German Future Institute, said: “By 2050, it is expected that 75% of the world’s population will live in cities; pets and people could be competing for drastically reduced living space. By 2050, plastic waste could triple if usage continues at its existing rate. E-commerce is changing before our eyes, with the boundaries between online and offline blurring to create a new retail focusing on fulfilling the personalised needs of each customer. Mega trends are avalanches in slow motion; they change everything, but slowly, and the changes are long lasting.”
UK CONTINGENT
Nicole Paley, deputy chief executive of the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association, attended the forum as part of the UK contingent.
“This was a superb event and the FEDIAF AGM provided the perfect forum for this discussion,” she said. “The strength of a trade organisations such as FEDIAF and PFMA is providing opportunities such as this for industry to come together and develop strategies for these big picture issues. Working together on issues such as sustainability enables us to have a much greater impact than working as one.”
Greg Van Praagh, PFMA vice chairman (Benyfit Natural), and Peter Kersh, PFMA past chairman (World Feeds), also attended the event with the UK group.
The meeting took place at FEDIAF’s Annual General Meeting in Prague in June.
